Kagome's Curse: A Blessing in Disguise?
by ananova
Summary: Kagome is having a bad week and it is about to get worse. What does her Grandfather's pen pal have to do with it? What is Jusenkyo and how will Inuyasha react to what has happened? Slight crossover with Ranma.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Author' Note: This will be a slight crossover with Ranma 1/2, though the Ranma characters won't really make much of an appearance beyond possibly brief cameos.

_Somewhere in the Bayankala Mountain Range, Qinghai Province, China_

A short man slowly entered a valley filled with springs, being cautious to avoid falling into any of them. He headed for a small hut set to the side, a thick letter clutched in his hands. The man looked around for his daughter but finding her nowhere in sight he sighed and took a seat outside of his home.

The man looked over the sealed letter in his hand and allowed a slight smile to cross his face. "Aah. Nobuo-san has written me again. I did not expect him to respond so quickly. I wonder what tale he will share this time." Though he was surprised to have received a reply so soon, he was happy as the twice a month letters had become one of the few good things to look forward to. He eagerly began to open the letter.

Suddenly a strong wind blew, taking the papers from his hand and scattering them along the ground. "No!" he exclaimed, and hurried to retrieve the pages, still being careful to avoid the springs. "Aah, that was close" he said to himself as he retrieved the last visible page from its location a few feet from one of the innocent looking springs. As he turned and headed back to his hut with his prize in hand he did not notice a lone paper dissolving in the spring it had landed in.

Not taking any chances this time, he entered the hut with his letter. Looking them over he quickly arranged the pages into some semblance of order and began to read. "Oh, poor Nobuo-san. Neither of his grandchildren show any sign of wanting to follow their family's tradition. Something I can definitely sympathize with. And his granddaughter, involved with demons. Tsk, tsk. At least that is one thing I don't have to worry about with Plum." As he continued to read he turned to the next page of the letter and stopped, shocked. Quickly rereading the words to confirm he had read it right, he then quickly skimmed the rest of the letter, hoping he had simply gotten the order mixed up. 'Surely Nobuo-san couldn't have meant that!' he thought. But no, the letter did not make any sense if arranged any other way.

Scratching his head in confusion, the man tried to decide what to do. Nobuo-san was one of the few friends he had and his letters were one of the few things he had to look forward to. Shrugging, he decided to honor his friend's request and just remind him to make sure that this is what he wants before he goes through with it.

Standing, he went to a cupboard and collected a sturdy wooden cask. Next, he went to a chest and drew out an old, faded map. This map showed the locations of each of the known springs in the valley. With the items he needed in hand he left his hut and cautiously approached the springs.

Arriving at a spring a few minutes later, he consulted the map to make sure it was the correct one. Satisfied that he was at the right place, he put the map away and proceeded to carefully fill the cask with water from the spring. He was careful to avoid getting any of the water on himself. Once his task was finished, he tightly sealed the cask and carefully made his way back to his hut. Upon reaching his destination, he wrote a reply to his friend and carefully packed the cask and letter for mail delivery. Then he slowly made his way to the valley's mail drop and left the package for the next postal pickup. Then he again made his way back to his home, calling for his daughter as he did.

If anyone had been around to inspect the waiting package, they would have wondered why the man known as the Jusenkyo Guide was sending a package to Tokyo, Japan. They would have been especially curious to know who he could know at a Shinto shrine, as the label on the package was for Higurashi Nobuo, at the Higurashi Shrine in Tokyo, Japan.

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"Kagome's Curse: A Blessing in Disguise?" is the working title for this fic. Any suggestions for a better title would be greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Author's Note: This will be a slight crossover with Ranma 1/2, though the Ranma characters won't really make much of an appearance beyond possibly brief cameos.

* * *

Kagome was having a bad week. It had all started back in her own era. She had gone to school to find out that she had done poorly on several of her exams, especially math. The teachers had not been very forgiving either, making comments about how if she would show up for class she would have better marks. It was obvious that they didn't believe the illnesses that her grandfather claimed she had, and who could blame them? The illnesses were too unbelievable, and when she did show up she looked healthy and sported a tan from all the traveling in the sun. However, she finally managed to convince them to let her try to make up some of her grade with extra credit and make-up assignments. Though that relief didn't last long when she saw how much work she had ahead of her.

_Flashback_

_Kagome looked at all the assignments her teachers had given her and felt like crying. How was she going to find time to do all of this? 'Was that my imagination or does that desk look like it's going to collapse?' she thought as the desk gave a slight groan under the stacks of paper and books. She turned her attention back to her teacher as he began to speak._

_"Now Higurashi, I have spoken with your other teachers. Due to your 'illnesses'" and he spoke the word with contempt, "you are drastically behind your classmates and it is beginning to reflect itself in your exam grades. After much discussion we have decided to give you one more chance. You have two weeks to complete these assignments. If they are completed satisfactorily in that time we will count them towards your grade for your class work__.__ However, I expect to see an improvement in your exam grades. It will be up to you to decide how important your academic career is to you and study accordingly. Any questions?"_

_'T-two weeks?! How am I going to finish all of this in two months, let alone two weeks?' Seeing her teacher looking at her expectantly she swallowed and began making assurances. "Thank you Sensei__,__ for giving me another chance. I promise I will work hard and complete my assignments. I plan to study harder. I'll bring my scores up, I promise."_

_"See that you do." He said, clearly a dismissal. Kagome bowed to him, packed her assignments into her bag, and left under the heavy weight for home._

_End Flashback_

She arrived back home at the shrine to find Inuyasha waiting for her impatiently. As soon as she got there he began yelling about her being late and that she was wasting time. She barely had time to grab her pack before he was dragging her to the well despite her protests. They arrived on the other side to find the others waiting for them, and Inuyasha had them start off right away on another shard rumor.

Things only went downhill from there. They had only been travelling for a couple of hours when it began to rain. It wasn't a hard rain, nothing that would keep them from continuing on, it was just annoying. And it made the road muddy which is what led to the next incident.

_Flashback_

_Inuyasha was running ahead, Miroku and Sango were on Kirara's back, and Kagome was riding her bike with Shippou in the basket. They had just started to go down a hill when the mud caused Kagome's bike to lose traction. The bike went speeding down the hill, and no matter what Kagome did she was unable to slow down, let alone stop. Seeing some large rocks at the base of the hill, Kagome did the only thing she could think of, she grabbed Shippou and jumped off the bike. Kagome took the brunt of the fall but thankfully only suffered minor bruising._

_The others caught up to her as she was getting to her feet. Of course that led to Inuyasha starting in on her. "Keh. Stupid wench, what did you do that for?"_

"_Baka. In case you didn't notice Shippou and I would have been flattened if I didn't get us off the bike." Was Kagome's response as she went to check the damage done to her bike where it had hit the rocks. She winced when she reached it. The frame was all bent out of shape and the tires were even worse. Just looking at it, Kagome knew that there was no way to salvage it. She grabbed her pack from the wreckage, and wondered what she should do with what was left of the bike._

"_Keh. Might as well leave it. You won't be going anywhere on that again. We'll pick it up on our way back to Kaede's later. Come on wench, you're wasting time." Was Inuyasha's reply before he grabbed her and placed her on his back._

_End Flashback_

They had travelled a bit further that day before the rain got worse and they found shelter in an abandoned hut. That led to the next piece of bad luck as Kagome decided that since they couldn't travel any further that night she might as well begin her assignments. Only when she tried to begin one of her math assignments, she discovered that she had left one of her textbooks back in her time and she couldn't complete that assignment without it. When she said as much to Inuyasha he was unsympathetic. He made some comment about how she had more than enough books that doing without one wouldn't hurt, and if it was really that important why didn't she remember it in the first place. That led to a brief argument between the two before Kagome resolved to complete her other assignments first and worry about that one afterwards.

The next day had seemed to start out better as the rain had stopped though it was still cloudy. Things had seemed to be going better until around midday when they were crossing a small footbridge.

_Flashback_

_They had been traveling all morning and things seemed to be going better than the previous day. Kagome was feeling much better and was enjoying taking in the view as they crossed the bridge to the other side of the river. She started to turn when she heard Shippou call her name, only to catch her foot on a loose plank of wood and fall into the water._

_She came up spluttering, only to sink again as the weight of her pack dragged her down. Suddenly a clawed hand was in front of her, grabbing her and hauling her out of the water and back onto the bridge. She sat there for a moment coughing and trying to catch her breath. She glanced up at Inuyasha and said "Thank you."_

"_Keh. Clumsy wench. Pay more attention to where you're walking" was his response as he turned away._

_She felt herself flush, though whether it was from anger or embarrassment she wasn't sure. She started to stand only for her ankle to begin throbbing when she tried to place any weight on it. 'I must have twisted it when I tripped.' She didn't think it would be smart to try walking on it yet. Glancing at the sun and estimating it to be close enough to lunch time, she turned to Inuyasha and began trying to persuade him to take a break from their journey. Seeing him about to protest she played her ace in the hole. "Please, Inuyasha? I'll make you ramen." His ears perked up at the mention of his favorite food and he capitulated._

_That of course led to the next bit of bad news. When she sat her bag down she noticed that the strap on one of the pockets was broken. She didn't think anything of it until she reached inside and discovered that the contents of that pocket were gone. She was dismayed to learn that it was the pocket where she kept most of the ramen and pocky. 'Where could they have gotten to?'_

"_Oh, no" she cried, calling attention to herself as she glanced from the pack to the river and back again. She imagined she could see the packages of ramen and pocky just floating away down the river just like her previous good mood had._

"_Keh. Now what wench? And what's taking so long with my ramen?"_

_End Flashback_

Suffice it to say that neither Inuyasha nor Shippou had been very happy to learn what had happened to their favorite foods. Inuyasha had spent a good twenty minutes yelling, and calling her clumsy before stating it was time to get moving. He was in a foul mood made fouler when he learned about her ankle, and he continued to grumble before sweeping her onto his back.

That night Miroku managed to get them accommodations in a village despite Inuyasha's complaints. It was at that time that Kagome made her next discovery

_Flashback_

_Everyone was settling down in the room Miroku had managed to secure for them. Sango and Miroku were sitting by the fire discussing something with Kirara curled up in Sango's lap. For once Miroku wasn't trying to grope her rear. Shippou was coloring and Inuyasha was in his customary place against a wall, scowl evident on his face. Glancing at him, Kagome realized that he really wasn't happy about staying in the village, and he was still upset from the earlier events. She thought about going over to talk to him but another look at the scowl on his face chased that idea from her mind._

_With a sigh she reached for her bag, deciding she could at least get some of her assignments done. She pulled out one of her notebooks and opened it only to drop it with a screech as she saw its contents. The others looked up, startled by the sudden noise._

"_Nooo!" she wailed as she flipped through her notebook before grabbing another one and flipping through that one as well. It was the same in all of them. Every single page was damp and covered in blotchy ink. All of her work was ruined._

"_Kagome-chan? What's wrong?" Sango asked when the girl continued to stare blankly at the books in her lap._

_Kagome continued to stare at her ruined books as she replied in a deadened voice. "It's all ruined. All of my assignments and notes. They must have gotten soaked when I fell in the river, causing all of the ink to run. It's all ruined."_

"_Keh. Is that all wench? No need to go screeching loud enough to wake the dead. Just redo them." Was Inuyasha's input from where he sat against the wall._

_Kagome slowly raised her head from her ruined work to pin the hanyou with a deadly glare. Inuyasha began to feel slightly nervous from the intensity of her gaze and was about to say something else when she began to speak._

"_Just redo them you say. Just redo all of that hard work, is that your answer? And how am I supposed to do that exactly? When I said all of my work and notes are ruined, I meant ALL of it. All of my work from the last few **months**, not just the last couple of days, as well as all of my notes, including the ones that I copied from my friends. How am I supposed to 'just redo' all of **that**?" Her voice had steadily grown louder as she continued to speak so that when she finished she ended at a near yell._

_However, Inuyasha was never one to realize when it is smarter for him to keep quiet and he opened his mouth again. "In that case why don't you just forget about doing the work altogether. Just get rid of all those books, you don't need em. I don't see why you need to go to that school anyway. It's just a waste of time, time that could be better spent looking for shards and signs of Naraku." He finally looked up again when he heard the startled gasp from one of the others. His eyes immediately went to Kagome and he gulped at the look on her face that promised pain in his immediate future._

"_Inuyasha, osuwari" Kagome said before she proceeded to put all of her ruined books back in her pack. She then retrieved her sleeping bag and began to set it up. She turned to the others and said "It's getting late. I think I'll turn in for the night." She completely ignored Inuyasha as he peeled himself from the floor. When he opened his mouth to say something else she simply said "Osuwari" again and then climbed into her bag and rolled over. For once Inuyasha seemed to take the hint and he returned to his place against the wall with a loud "KEH!" He remained in a foul mood for the rest of the night._

_End Flashback_

Inuyasha woke them all up early the next morning, still in a bad mood and eager to get on with the journey. He didn't even let them eat breakfast before he had them moving.

Kagome was again on Inuyasha's back while the others travelled on Kirara. They travelled in peace and quiet for a few hours with no other instances of bad luck. They were making good time when Kagome sensed the presence of Jewel shards approaching fast. She told Inuyasha, who stopped and sniffed a few times before growling and muttering "Stinking wolf." Kagome realized at that moment that the peace and quiet was over. Kouga and Inuyasha traded their usual insults, Kouga complimented Kagome and made a comment about when he would claim her as his woman, Kagome said Osuwari to keep Inuyasha from attacking Kouga, Kouga insulted Inuyasha again and told him to "keep my woman safe" then he left.

Of course that led to Inuyasha yelling at Kagome for saying "it" and the two had another argument.

_Flashback_

"_Stupid Bitch! What did you do that for?!"_

"_You were going to attack Kouga. We don't need for you to be fighting with our allies. And you are the one who is always in such a hurry to look for jewel shards or Naraku, what will you do if we come across them but you're too injured to fight?"_

"_Oi! I'm not a weakling. That mangy wolf would never lay a finger on me. And why are you always letting him sniff around and put his hands all over you anyway?"_

"_Baka! It's not like that."_

"_Could've fooled me."_

"_Baka"_

"_Bitch"_

_End Flashback_

That led to them travelling in silence, refusing to talk to each other. Even their friends didn't want to get involved at this point and kept their silence.

By the time they stopped for a rest, Kagome was feeling bad about arguing with Inuyasha and she offered him the last of the ramen as a peace offering. Of course that's when they saw Kikyou's Shinidamachuu, and Inuyasha took off to find Kikyou. Kagome had to sit there and pretend she didn't hear the others whispered conversation about how Inuyasha had left her again to go see Kikyou and what they might be doing right now.

When Inuyasha came back a couple of hours later Kagome tried not to let how hurt she was show. He didn't appear to notice anyway. All he said was for them to hurry up, that they were wasting time. Then he had them set off at an even more brutal pace than before. He didn't even tell them what Kikyou had wanted; though Kagome wasn't sure she wanted to know. Inuyasha didn't speak to them for the rest of the day, not even to tell them why they seemed to be heading back in the direction of Kaede's village. The group remained silent that night when they made camp and Kagome again climbed into her sleeping bag early.

The next day they hadn't gotten far when a pair of snake youkai attacked them. One of them managed to bite Inuyasha and Kagome could tell that its venom was slowing Inuyasha down.

_Flashback_

"_Inuyasha, look out!" Kagome called. She had an arrow nocked and ready but she couldn't get a clear shot. Miroku and Sango were dealing with one of the youkai while Inuyasha dealt with the other. But Inuyasha's reflexes were slowed and he wasn't reacting fast enough. The poison from the earlier bite was slowing him down._

_At that moment the youkai managed to knock Tessaiga from his grip and lunged forward to sink it's fangs into Inuyasha. Kagome took aim praying for the arrow to hit its mark and let the arrow fly. Her arrow shot forward, purifying energy surrounding it. It hit the snake youkai but not before passing within inches of Inuyasha's head. It passed so close that several strands of Inuyasha's hair were cut off, causing Inuyasha to yell at her. "Watch where you're aiming, bitch!"_

_The other youkai wasn't happy with the destruction of its mate and it batted Miroku and Sango aside before heading straight for Kagome. She made to run but the youkai was fast and knocked her off of her feet. It went for the kill and then Inuyasha was there and the youkai was dead._

_As Kagome started to breathe a sigh of relief Inuyasha turned around and pinned her with a glare. "You stupid Bitch! What did you think you were doing just standing there?! Don't you have any sense in that head of yours at all? You were gonna let that thing kill you!" Kagome knew he was just worried about her, but he was making her angry with the way he was yelling at her. Then he said the worst thing he could have said at that moment. "It would have gotten the Shikon no Kakera. Kikyou never would have let it get that close."_

_The comparison hurt. Kagome couldn't take anymore. She had had the week from hell and this was the last straw. "BAKA! OSUWARI! How dare you?! If Kikyou's so much better than I am why don't you go get her to track down the shards for you?!"_

_She turned to walk away but his voice stopped her. "Kikyou's not the one who shattered the Shikon no Tama, you are. It's your responsibility to fix it." She tried to ignore him, afraid of what she might say. "Oi bitch, where do you think you're going? You better not be running off to that fucking wolf."_

_That did it. "Osuwari, osuwari, OSUWARI!!!" she yelled. "INUYASHA NO BAKA! I'm going home."_

_From his crater on the ground, Inuyasha yelled "Keh! Like I'm gonna believe that. That fucking wolf was all over you and you didn't do a thing to stop him. You're probably running off to meet with him right now!" He started to push himself up._

"_Osuwari! Why should you care if I was going to Kouga, you have Kikyou, remember? You've got some nerve. If anyone pays me any attention, whether it's Kouga, Hojou, or someone else, you get all possessive and nasty. But as soon as Kikyou shows up you are at her beck and call. You can't have it both ways Inuyasha!" She added another 'Osuwari' to keep him down._

_She limped over to where she had dropped her pack and grabbed it before asking Kirara to carry her back to the Bone Eater Well. Turning to look at her shocked friends she stated "It's been a very bad week. I'm going home, taking a long, hot bath, and then I'm going to curl up in my bed and not come out again until this week is nothing but a bad dream." She climbed onto Kirara, who took to the air in the direction of the well._

_End Flashback_

That led her to where she was now. She had just dismounted Kirara when her ankle gave out on her and she fell in the mud. Wiping the mud from her face she muttered "Great, what else can possibly happen today." Finally reaching the well she jumped in, praying things would be better on the other side.

As the light faded and Kagome landed lightly at the bottom of the well, she let out a sigh. She painfully climbed the ladder before limping out of the well house, stating to herself "At least I'm home now. There's nothing else that can go wrong today." She should have known better than to taunt Murphy like that.

As she slowly trudged towards the house, thoughts focused on a long hot bath and curling up in her bed for a month, Kagome paid no attention to her surroundings. If she had been paying attention she might have noticed her grandfather excitedly approaching from her left. If she had noticed him, she would have wondered at the large wooden cask he carried. Or she might have warned him of Buyo, who was lying stretched out in a sunny spot right in his path. Or if she had been paying attention, she might have noticed Souta approaching from her right, practicing with his soccer ball.

But Kagome did not notice any of these things. She was too focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and imagining the hot bath that awaited her.

Several things happened at once. Kagome's grandfather, who wasn't paying much more attention than she was, tripped over Buyo. As he fell, the cask in his arms flew into the air. At the same time, Souta gave his soccer ball a particularly hard kick. It went soaring straight towards the falling cask.

Her grandfather's horrified exclamation of "Nooo!" managed to gain Kagome's attention and she finally looked up. She was just in time to see the soccer ball smash into the cask directly above her, shattering it and spilling its contents all over her.

Kagome reflexively swallowed the water that had entered her mouth. She stood there, dripping wet in mud streaked clothes. She brushed off the slight tingling sensation she felt, brushing it off as her untrained Miko powers reacting to her frustration and anger. She tried to control her temper by slowly breathing in and out. She ignored Souta's apologies, Buyo's plaintive meows, and Grandpa's whining about "youth being wasted on the young." They all quieted as she raised her head and fixed them with a glare.

"I am having a **very** bad week. I am going into the house and having a nice long hot bath and then I am going to curl up in my nice, comfortable bed. The next person to disturb me will sorely regret it" she growled at them. She must have looked quite the sight as they all backed up a few steps and nodded anxiously, trying to keep her from unleashing her frustration and anger on them. As she resumed her walk to the house she idly wondered if she had been spending too much time around Inuyasha. That growl had sounded a little too much like the Inu-hanyou. She vaguely heard Souta's whispered "Oneesan is scary" and her grandfather's agreement as she entered the house.

She went straight to her room where she dropped her pack and grabbed her bathing supplies and a change of clothes. She then headed for the bathroom where she ran a hot bath. As the tub filled with hot water, she mechanically stripped out of her filthy clothes and scrubbed herself clean before climbing into the waiting bath.

She sighed and began to relax as the hot water created a pleasant tingling sensation in her body. She lost track of how long she sat there, luxuriating in the relaxing feeling. As the hot water began to cool she sighed and began the process of ending the bath. She let the water drain from the tub and stood up before turning on the shower to rinse the suds from her body.

She yelped as cold water blasted from the shower head, creating an unpleasant tingling sensation. She hurriedly turned the knob to try to change the temperature only to have the knob come off in her hand.

"Damn it" she uncharacteristically cursed, surprising herself, before using the cold water to rinse herself off and finally getting the shower to shut off.

She grumbled to herself as she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to wipe off the excess water before wrapping it around her body. She grabbed another towel and began to vigorously dry her hair before yelping in pain. She ripped the towel from her head, wondering what had happened now. Movement in the mirror caught her attention and she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes widened at the sight before her. She couldn't help it, she screamed.

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Sorry for the cliffhanger but this was too good a spot to end the chapter. Please review and let me know what you think. I'll try to get the next chapter posted as soon as I can.

Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi.

Author's note: Here is the next chapter where we find out what has happened to Kagome. I hope you enjoy it. Please review and let me know what you think.

Author's note 2: I couldn't find an official name for the Jusenkyo guide. I decided on Haruo which means "spring man". Nobuo is the name I used for Kagome's grandfather and it means "faithful man".

Inuyasha's reaction will be shown in the next chapter.

Happy New Year everyone.

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Kagome stared at her reflection after she stopped screaming. She slowly reached her hands to the top of her head, thinking and hoping that her eyes were playing tricks on her. She winced as she tugged at the appendages she saw in the mirror. Nope, they were real. As the sounds of footsteps on the stairs reached her, she watched in fascination as the fuzzy black ears on her head twitched in response.

A knock at the door and then her mother's voice called "Kagome? Are you alright? We heard you scream."

Biting her lip as she quickly thought up a response, Kagome replied "I'm fine, Mama. It was just a spider that startled me." She felt guilty about lying to her mother but she didn't have an explanation for the sight before her at the moment and didn't want to worry her.

"Alright dear, dinner will be ready in an hour" her mother called before Kagome heard footsteps walking away from the door.

Kagome turned her attention back to her reflection in the mirror to examine the changes to her appearance. She began to reach for her ears again when something else caught her attention. She quickly brought her hands up to the front of her face and stared.

Her nails were longer and sharper, looking more like claws. "Wait a minute" she thought aloud. "Dog ears. Check. Claws. Check." She turned to the mirror and opened her mouth. "Fangs. Check" she muttered to herself. She peered closer at the mirror. And when she looked at her eyes, they appeared to be lighter and more golden brown than the dark brown they had previously been. All of these changes led her to one conclusion. "I'm a hanyou?!" she exclaimed to the mirror. Suddenly she shook her head to clear it before turning to get dressed. She needed answers and she wasn't going to get them by staring at her reflection.

She frowned and uncharacteristically cursed as her new claws got caught on her clothing, creating little tears in the fabric. And she could forget about trying to button her blouse, her claws wouldn't cooperate and only succeeded in getting in the way and popping buttons off. She settled for covering herself up enough to travel to her room and find better clothes that wouldn't tear so easily.

Once back in her room Kagome grabbed a pair of jeans and short sleeved shirt that she could pull over her head without needing to button it. Thankfully, the shirt was made of thicker material than her normal blouses and therefore was less likely to tear if her new claws caught the material. She decided that these clothes were sturdy enough and would hold up better than her other clothes would at the moment. As she finished dressing a thought briefly occurred to her: Was it her imagination or did her shirt feel tighter than usual?

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, her reflection caught her attention once more. "Okay Kagome, think" she muttered to herself.

"Somehow I've been turned into a hanyou. And an Inu-hanyou at that. I just have to figure out how and then find some way to reverse it. Maybe if I mentally retrace my steps."

Kagome thought about everything that had occurred that morning. "Okay, this had to have happened after I left the others or they would have noticed and said something. And I traveled to the well on Kirara so it couldn't have happened then either. The only thing that happened between getting off of Kirara's back and entering the well was that I slipped and fell in the mud, and I don't see how that could have anything to do with this. Maybe it happened while I was traveling through the well? But I didn't notice anything different about this trip, so that can't be it."

She froze as a thought suddenly occurred to her. "What if it's something that has been gradually happening every time I used the well? What if the well has been slowly altering me and it only now has become obvious? What if a normal human can't travel through the well and its magic has slowly been turning me into a youkai?" She shook her head and laughed nervously.

"Nah, that's ridiculous" she laughed to herself as she tried to push the idea away. But a little doubt remained. She continued going over her steps trying to find another explanation. "After I got back here the only other thing that happened is that I got soaked by Ojiisan's water. Could that have something to do with it?" Again she shook her head. "That's even less likely than the well being behind it. None of Ojiisan's _magic artifacts_ ever work."

She was pulled from her musings by her mother's voice calling her to dinner. That pulled her up short as she realized that she didn't know what she was going to tell her family. "How am I possibly going to explain this?" Another, more worrying thought occurred to her. "How will Inuyasha react when he finds out?"

She was slightly surprised to realize that it was the hanyou's possible reaction that worried her the most, even more than that of her own family.

As she heard her mother call her for dinner again, Kagome contemplated faking illness and hiding in her room. She quickly dismissed that idea, knowing that she couldn't hide forever. She called back "Coming Mama" and slowly started to make her way downstairs.

As she reached the top of the stairs, Kagome was startled to realize that she could clearly hear the conversation taking place in the dining room below. Souta was going on about soccer and her grandfather was muttering about wasted youth.

Taking a deep breath, she paused and focused on what her senses were telling her. 'Everything seems so much brighter and clearer' she thought. She flinched and flattened her ears, muttering "not to mention louder", as the tea kettle whistled loudly from the direction of the kitchen. And the smells. She could smell the delicious aroma of the food her mother had cooked from where she stood. Several other smells reached her as well, causing her to wrinkle her nose. "Ugh. I think I'll have to have a talk with Grandpa about the incense he uses. It smells even worse now than it did before. Is this what it's like for Inuyasha all of the time? No wonder he doesn't like to spend too much time in this era. I guess I can understand all of his complaints now."

The mouthwatering aroma coming from downstairs suddenly grew stronger, breaking her away from her thoughts. She realized that she was very hungry and continued on her way to the dining room. She stopped at the doorway and braced herself for her family's reactions before entering.

"There you are Kagome" her mother stated as she looked up from where she was putting the food on the table. "I was beginning to get worried. Do you feel better after-" Her voice trailed off as she caught sight of Kagome's ears and her eyes widened.

Souta and Ojiisan looked up at Mrs. Higurashi's sudden gasp and their eyes widened as well as they took in Kagome's change in appearance.

Suddenly Kagome's mother squealed and lunged at Kagome, who briefly flinched at both the noise and sudden movement, before she felt her mother's hands gently rubbing her ears and heard Souta's voice exclaiming "Me too, me too. I want to feel them too." Her mother was going on about how cute her ears are.

Kagome winced and subconsciously flattened her ears as her Ojiisan's shout of "Youkai! What have you done with my granddaughter?!" reached her sensitive ears.

'Déjà vu.' Kagome thought. 'This is just like when Inuyasha first showed up here.' She was vaguely aware of her grandfather trying to slap an ofuda on her but she was too in shock to react. She was shaken from her thoughts as she felt her mother's hands leave her ears as she went to intercept Ojiisan and began to admonish him.

This led to brief argument between the two Higurashi adults about whether or not she was really herself that ended with Ojiisan sulking in his seat at the table and Mrs. Higurashi firmly stating that "A mother would be able to recognize her child no matter what changes in appearance may have occurred." Mrs. Higurashi then gestured for everyone to sit down as she began to fill their plates. "Now Kagome, how did this happen? Not that I'm against it, of course, those ears are just so cute..."

As her mother began to daydream and mumble about cute puppy ears and grandchildren, Kagome blushed and hesitantly spoke up. "I-I'm not sure Mama. I got out of my bath and that's when I noticed the changes. I'm not sure what could have caused this."

"But you must have noticed something strange. This didn't just happen. Something must have caused it."

Kagome took a deep breath before replying. "I wondered if maybe it was a side effect of traveling through the well." At her mother's startled look Kagome hurriedly continued "but I don't think that is it. We would have noticed something long before now if that was the case." She tried to placate her mother, afraid she would forbid her from traveling to the past any longer.

"I agree dear. If it was the well we would have noticed something before now." Her mother paused as a thought occurred to her. "Kagome, you and Inuyasha? You haven't, umm... done anything have you? Something that might have caused this? You would tell me if your relationship had changed, wouldn't you?"

Catching what her mother was implying, Kagome choked and turned as red as Inuyasha's fire-rat haori. Blushing furiously and stuttering, she hurried to deny her mother's words. "N-no mama. O-of course not. I haven't done any such thing. In-Inuyasha and I are just friends."

Her mother seemed to accept her words, but Kagome couldn't help but think that while she looked relieved there was also something in her expression that seemed just the tiniest bit disappointed. 'Why would she be disappointed? I must be imagining things. Mama can't want me and Inuyasha to...' Kagome blushed even redder. Her thoughts were interrupted by her grandfather's outburst a moment later.

"No! No granddaughter of mine will be tainted by a foul youkai. I won't stand for it." He punctuated his statement by slamming his hands on the table, causing the dishes to rattle.

He was quickly admonished by Mrs. Higurashi, with Kagome and Souta adding their own protests. As he made to start another rant, Kagome stopped him with a glare and stated "Inuyasha may be half demon but he is a good and kind person. He is a better person than some humans I have met. I won't allow you to insult him like that again!"

This didn't help to calm her grandfather. He sat there with a mulish expression on his face. "You don't know what you are saying. You were raised in a shrine, you should know better than that. All youkai are evil. He is just trying to trick you. He is probably the reason for your current appearance. He has tainted you with his youki!" He punctuated this statement by again slamming his hands onto the table, even harder than before causing several cups to overturn.

Kagome jumped up as her hot tea spilled on her. She ignored the tingling sensation the hot liquid caused and opened her mouth to reprimand her grandfather and defend Inuyasha from his accusations. However, she stopped upon seeing his wide eyes and gaping mouth. She glanced at her mother and brother but they also seemed to be in shock.

Ignoring her grandfather's paling face she asked "Mama?"

Mrs. Higurashi looked at her daughter's scared face and went to reassure her. "You-you're back to normal Kagome. It was just a shock to see you change in front of us like that is all."

'Back to normal?' Kagome thought. Everything seemed duller than it had a moment ago. 'Did I get used to those senses so quickly?' She looked at her hands, no longer were her fingertips claws, and then quickly raised them to her head. First she felt the top of her head and felt that the dog ears were gone, then bringing them to the sides of her head she felt the return of her normal human ears.

Kagome looked up. "But how? All that happened was that we were yelling and then I got splashed with my tea." Kagome looked around the table at her family, as if hoping one of them would be able to offer an explanation. Her mother and Souta looked just as confused as she felt but when she reached her grandfather he was pale, looking worried and guilty. "Ojiisan?" she questioned.

Her grandfather jumped and looked even guiltier. Mrs. Higurashi, having raised two children, knew that look and cleared her throat. "Jiichan, is there something you would like to share with the rest of us?" and she pierced him with a stern glare.

Ojiisan, nervous at having all of the attention focused on him, began to stutter. "B-but that shouldn't have happened. It wasn't supposed to do that."

"What wasn't supposed to do what?" Mrs. Higurashi pressed.

"Jusenkyo. The Jusenkyo water, it was supposed to restore my youth not turn Kagome into a youkai" he cried.

"Maybe you should start at the beginning Jiichan."

Seeing his daughter-in-law's stern look the old man quickly began to tell his story.

"It all began a few months ago when I was trying to find more talismans to sell for the shrine. I came into contact with Haruo from China. He lives in a valley filled with magic springs that change those who fall into them. As the caretaker of that valley, he tries to prevent unfortunate travelers from falling into the springs. Barring that, he explains the changes to them.

"We made a fast friendship and have been exchanging letters for months, telling each other different stories about things we have seen and heard. I even shared some of Kagome's stories about the well and that hanyou." He paused as his family glared at him for the way he spoke of Inuyasha. He held up his hands to placate them, then opened his mouth to continue.

Kagome stopped him by pinning him with another look and saying "Wait, you told him about the **well** and **Inuyasha**?! What if he tries something?! Or tells someone else?" She was panicking.

"No, no. There is nothing to worry about. He is unable to leave the valley because of his responsibilities, that is why we have been exchanging letters. And I had to share the stories after the ones he has shared with me about the Amazons, the Musk, and the Phoenix people. Besides he has encountered traveler's who traveled to the past using a mirror."

Everyone blinked at that. Then Mrs. Higurashi cleared her throat again. "Okay Jiichan, it's nice that you have a pen pal to talk to, but what does that have to do with what happened to Kagome?"

"I was just getting to that. In one of his most recent letters Haruo told me about his daughter, Plum, and how she was rebelling against him, refusing to listen to him. She is throwing away everything that he has worked his entire life for, all of his traditions.

"I sympathized with him. So I wrote back to him about my grandchildren. About how they don't want to take care of the shrine, how they are throwing away my hard work and traditions for soccer or adventures with youkai or even just to hang out with their friends."

His family blinked at his rant. Souta and Kagome looked at each other guiltily. They hadn't realized just how much it meant to him for them to want to take care of the shrine and how upset with them he was when they shirked their responsibilities. Looking at each other, they silently promised to be more responsible and pay more attention to their grandfather's stories.

"I'm sorry Ojiisan" Kagome started. "I guess I just never realized how much it meant to you. I promise I'll try to listen and help out more, to be more responsible."

"Me too" Souta agreed.

Happy that he had finally conveyed how hurt he had been at the actions of his grandchildren, the old man continued his tale.

"As I was writing that last letter a thought occurred to me. I knew neither of you cared about the shrine as much as I do. I worried that our legacy would end with me. Then I recalled the legend of Jusenkyo that Haruo had shared with me. The tale goes that whoever falls into one of the springs takes the form of the last thing that drowned in that spring. So I thought about going there and jumping into a spring but realized that I could not leave the shrine unattended for so long a period of time.

"Then I remembered one of Haruo's earlier letters. He had said you don't need to actually jump into the spring to feel its effects. You only need to be splashed with water from one of the springs to feel the effects of the curse. So I wrote to him and asked him to send me water from a specific spring if it existed. I was sure that the spring I wanted existed based on some of his earlier stories. He did so and it arrived today. However, due to some unfortunate circumstances" and he glared at Buyou who was sitting near the table to beg for table scraps, "the cask was broken and Kagome was splashed with the water instead."

"You mean you got me cursed?!" Kagome interrupted as his words sunk in. "And why would you want to be splashed with water from a spring of drowned hanyou anyway? You hate youkai."

"It was an accident. And it was supposed to be water from the spring of drowned boy, not drowned hanyou. I thought to use the water like the fountain of youth. I thought that since neither you nor Souta were interested in running the shrine then I would turn myself into a young man again to do it myself. When there was no apparent change, like turning into a boy, after Kagome was splashed I thought that Haruo was wrong about not needing to jump into the spring itself. I don't know why it turned her into a hanyou."

Kagome turned green at the thought of being cursed to be a boy. To her that was much worse than being turned into a hanyou. "You mean that water was supposed to turn me into a guy! Wait, if that is what was supposed to happen then why are you so sure that it was the water that turned me into a hanyou?"

"It didn't even cross my mind until I saw you change back" he admitted. "You see the curse is reversed by hot water. The tea spilling on you was what caused you to change back. That is what made the connection in my mind."

"But I had just gotten out of a hot bath when I noticed the changes. If hot water was the cure, shouldn't I have been back to normal before now? And why would you want something that was so easily cured? Did you plan to never take a hot bath again?" Kagome questioned.

"No, no" Grandpa corrected her. "Hot water reverses the process but it does not cure the curse. You see the curse is water based. Cold water activates it" and he demonstrated by splashing his now cold tea on Kagome.

Kagome felt the tingling sensation again and realized it must be the sensations caused by the curse activating. She looked at her hands and saw claws. She could also feel her ears twitching on top of her head again. 'Cold water activates it. So when the shower water came out cold, that's why I was a hanyou after my bath.'

Turning to her grandfather she asked "So I'll be like this forever? Isn't there a cure? What if I were to get water from another spring?"

"According to Haruo, there is no known cure. He told me it is interesting to watch those who have been cursed search for a cure. Many seem to think as you do, that they can cure the curse by jumping into the spring of drowned boy or girl. But Haruo says that is not correct. He says that the curses will mix. He told me one story of a boy who had been dunked in the spring of drowned yeti holding an eel and crane while riding an ox. His cursed form looked like that of a Minotaur. He later came into contact with water from the spring of drowned octopus and acquired tentacles."

Shaking her head to clear it after picturing that combination, Kagome resolved to avoid ever going near this Jusenkyo place. 'I don't want to know what else I could be cursed to turn into.' She asked her grandfather "Did your friend include a letter or anything that might explain what happened?"

"Yes, I have it right here" he said, patting his pocket. "I had planned to read it after dinner."

That reminded everyone of the food on the table that was growing cold. A sudden grumbling of stomachs left them all avoiding each others gazes.

Mrs. Higurashi cleared her throat. "Well, I don't think it will hurt to eat dinner before reading that letter, now will it?" Everyone agreed and quickly began to eat before the food got any colder.

Once everyone had eaten their fill (and Kagome was surprised by how much more than usual she had eaten), Ojiisan took out his letter and opened it. He began to read to his eagerly listening family.

_"My dear friend Nobuo, I am saddened to hear that your grandchildren don't care for their legacy as much as you would like them to. I can certainly sympathize with you._

_"I must say I was surprised by your request. I hope you know what you are doing. I would ask that you carefully consider your intentions before taking any action. Be sure that this is what you want to do. But as you requested, I have included a cask with water from the spring of Drowned Inu Hanyou. Very tragic tale of an Inu Hanyou who was drowned there by his enemies 900 years ago._

_"Anyway, I am not sure exactly why you wanted it. Your letter was very confusing, the way you jumped from topic to topic. It was even more confusing than usual. However, since you went on so much about your granddaughter and the hanyou she travels with, I can only assume that you intend the water for her."_

At the incredulous looks he was receiving from his family, he broke off his reading and hastily defended himself. "It's not true, I wrote no such thing. I don't know where he could have gotten that idea from." At his grandchildren's disbelieving looks he added "I swear I did not ask for that."

Surprisingly his daughter-in-law came to his defense. "I believe him, that he did not write it, or at least that he didn't mean it that way. I have seen Jiichan's attempts to write letters. It can be very confusing to read at times, as he will often write whatever thought pops into his head at that moment. It is very possible that his friend simply misunderstood him." The children seemed to accept this explanation.

Grumbling to himself about ungrateful children who should respect their elders, Ojiisan began reading the letter from where he had left off.

_"Now my friend you also asked about a way to make the curse permanent. There are several ways that I have heard of to lock the curse. The most well known is to be splashed by the Chisuiton, a magic ladle in the possession of the Musk dynasty. This can be reversed by being splashed with water from the Kaisuifuu, a magic tea kettle. I would not recommend trying to obtain either artifact from the Musk, though. I have heard of several other magic artifacts that can lock a person in their cursed form, but to my knowledge they have all been lost or destroyed._

_"It has been theorized that drinking the water instead of merely being splashed by it might affect the permanency of the curse but I have seen no evidence to prove this theory."_

The old man broke off at Kagome's startled gasp. "I-I swallowed some of that water when it splashed me. What will it do to me?" She looked at him fearfully and he hurried to reassure her.

"I wouldn't worry about that. We have already seen that hot water will return you to normal." Kagome sat back, somewhat relieved and mollified, and he continued reading.

_"In any case, I don't believe you will have to worry about looking for a way to make the curse permanent. You see, because it was a youkai that drowned in that spring, even a half-demon, it is considered to be an extremely powerful spring. Youkai have their own magic, which will affect the magic of Jusenkyo, making it more powerful. The cursed form will fight against the transformation until eventually hot water will have no effect and the cursed form will become the person's permanent form. At that point it is unlikely that even water from another spring would affect the person._

_"This is why I caution you about being sure that this is what you and your granddaughter want. Once it is done there will be no way to undo it."_

The old man had paled as he read the last paragraphs and he was afraid to look up as he trailed off. Slowly raising his eyes from the paper in front of him, his gaze found Kagome, pale and shaking her head in denial.

With a loud shout of "NO!" she bolted for the kitchen. Her family quickly followed to prevent her from doing anything rash. They found her with the sink on, hot water flowing. She grabbed a nearby glass and filled it with water from the tap before pouring it over her head and waiting.

Kagome concentrated on the sensations she felt as the hot water reversed her curse. Her body tingled as she felt the changes begin, and by concentrating on it she could feel the difference. It wasn't much but she could feel a slight difference from earlier. As if something was fighting the change, it felt like the transformation to her original form occurred slower than when she changed into her cursed form. She knew then that the words in the letter were true and she couldn't help it, she began to cry. She felt her mother's arms wrap around her, comforting her and heard her grandfather's whispered apology, of how he never meant for this to happen.

She let her mother lead her out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room. They sat on her bed, her mother rocking her and whispering words to comfort her.

As the tears slowed and finally stopped, Kagome felt her mother kiss her forehead before telling her "No matter what you will always be my daughter and I will always love you." She helped settle Kagome on her bed, then rose and stated "I'll be right back. I'm going to get you something cool to drink to help soothe you."

Kagome took the opportunity to change into her pajamas before getting back into bed and waiting for her mother. She was still feeling sad and confused but her mother's words comforted her.

Mrs. Higurashi returned a few moments later with a glass of cool water. Kagome drank a few sips before placing the glass on her bedside table. She then turned to her mother. "I don't know what I am going to do Mama. I can't go to school like this; there would be no way to hide it if I got splashed. And there is no way to explain it either, who would believe that I got cursed. And I don't know how my friends will react. What about Inuyasha?!" She trailed off as her mother hushed her.

"Shh. We'll deal with all of that in the morning. You've had enough for one day. Don't worry, everything will work out somehow. And your grandfather is going to contact his friend again to find some more answers. Don't worry, I'll look over his letter before he sends it. Get some rest, things will seem better after a good night's sleep." She reached for the glass of water, intending to bring it downstairs but accidentally knocked it over. Some of the water splashed Kagome, who instantly felt the tingling sensation as the transformation took place. Mrs. Higurashi was very apologetic from where she was cleaning up the spilled water.

"I'm so sorry dear. If you want I'll get you some hot water."

Kagome shook her head. "That's alright Mama. I might as well start getting used to this form now. I think I'll turn in for the night now."

"If you're sure. Don't worry I'm sure things will be looking up come morning. Good night dear, I love you." And she kissed Kagome's forehead.

"Good night Mama" Kagome said as she settled back against her pillows and closed her eyes, hoping her mother was right and things would seem better in the morning.


End file.
